Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Has $6.22 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group increased its Microsoft stake by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 12,869 shares worth about $6.22 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on the stock: analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $560.88, and Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,869 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.0% of Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $450.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $402.09 and a 200-day moving average of $434.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. President Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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